Bottling your home brew will be the final step which has to be completed before you will finally have the opportunity to enjoy your very own home brewed beer. The primary fermentation must be totally finished. For ales this usually takes about 2 to 3 weeks. The airlock on your fermenter should have very occasional, if any, bubbles moving through it. The beer will also start to clear as the inactive yeast settles to the bottom of the fermenter.

To prepare the beer for bottling it's going to have to be primed. This process requires introducing a small amount of sugar to the entirely fermented but uncarbonated beer. Even though your beer might appear fairly clear there is still a sufficient quantity of yeast remaining to consume the added sugar. After the primed beer is bottled it is going to go through a brief fermentation that is going to provide the carbonation. This process is called bottle conditioning.

Bottling beer is a relatively basic process, but, it does involve some preparation to get everything ready. There are certain pieces of home brewing equipment necessary for bottling beer. Generally home brewing equipment kits contain all these items except for the bottles.

Listed here are the things necessary for bottling beer:

• Bottles

• Priming Sugar

• Bottle Brush

• Bottle Caps and Capper

• Bottling Bucket with Spigot and Bottle Filler Attachment

• Additional 5 Gallon Plastic Bucket

• Racking Cane with Siphon Hose

• Cleaning Solution

• Sanitizing Solution

Below are a few additional household items needed:

• Small Bowl or Container

• Saucepan

• Large Mixing Spoon (stainless steel or plastic)

• Rubber Gloves

You are going to have to have enough bottles to contain all the beer you have brewed. The best kind of bottles are brown glass ones with smooth tops (not the twist-off kind) that can accept a cap from the bottle capper. Green glass bottles are also fine; the concept is to keep light out of the bottle. Based on the bottle size you will be required to do some basic calculations. A 5 gallon batch of beer is approximately 640 ounces; so if you are going to use 12 ounce bottles you will want around 54. If you choose 16 ounce bottles you're going to need 40 bottles. It's a good plan to have a few extra bottles just in case there's a problem or a minor miscalculation.

Yet again cleanliness is one of the most critical things. It's tremendously important that each one of your bottles are completely cleaned before they are sanitized, particularly any time you are reusing bottles. One way to thoroughly clean the bottles is to soak them all in a cleaning solution and scrub them inside and outside using the bottle brush. Some good cleaning solutions are PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash), B-Brite and Easy Clean. You really should put on clean rubber gloves when you are cleaning and sanitizing. The solutions that you will be using will cause skin irritation.

The following step will be to sanitize all the bottling equipment and bottles. There are lots of sanitizers to choose from. Two of the well-known options are Star San, and 5-Star. Add the specified quantity of sanitizer to your bottling bucket and also to an additional 5 gallon bucket then fill each with water. Put all the bottling equipment that is going to come in contact with the beer in the sanitizing solution in the bottling bucket. Use the extra bucket to soak the bottles. Place as many bottles as you are able to in the sanitizing solution being sure that they're entirely submerged. When the bottles have been in the sanitizing solution for the recommended amount of time (take a look at the sanitizer manufacturer’s directions) remove and allow the bottles to drain. Continue doing this until all of the bottles are sanitized. Empty the sanitizing solution from your bucket. A lot of the sanitizers are "no rinse" which means you will not have to bother with rinsing any of the bottling equipment or bottles.

While your bottling equipment is in the sanitizing solution you will want to make the priming solution. The standard choice for priming sugar is corn sugar. It's a simple sugar and won't have an effect on the taste of your beer. For this step add 2 cups of water to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Combine ¾ cup of corn sugar and mix slowly until it's completely dissolved. Put a lid on the saucepan and remove it from the burner.

Take the time to set up your bottling area. Ensure that all the bottling equipment is readily accessible. Carefully put your fermenter on a countertop or table, try not to disturb the sediment on the bottom. Additionally it is a wise idea to take a few notes. Document the date of the bottling and any other noteworthy things about the beer. You might need to refer back to these notes later on down the road.

Take all the bottling equipment out of the sanitizing solution in your bottling bucket and put it in the extra 5 gallon bucket. Then add a couple of gallons of the sanitizing solution from the bottling bucket just in case you need it. Discard the remainder of the contents of the bottling bucket and allow it to drain.

Okay let’s get started. Keep in mind everything that will touch the beer has to remain sanitary.

Gently pour the priming solution into your bottling bucket. It's ok if it is a bit warm. Make use of your newly sanitized racking cane and siphon hose to transfer the beer from the fermenter into the bottling bucket. Put the end of your siphon hose at the bottom of the bottling bucket. Take care not to permit your beer to splash for the duration of the transfer, you don’t want to introduce any additional oxygen to your beer at this point. Keep the intake of the racking cane just above the sediment at the bottom of the fermenter. You want to avoid getting any of the sediment in the bottling bucket. Once all of your beer is within the bottling bucket place it on the counter or table. Gently mix it using a sanitized large spoon to ensure that the priming solution is uniformly mixed within the beer.

Put the bottle caps in a container along with some sanitizing solution. Attach the hose along with the bottling wand to the spigot on the bottling bucket. Turn on the spigot. Don't do this unless you are actually using a bottling wand that has a valve of its own.

At last it's time for you to begin bottling the beer! The bottling wand features a handy valve at the tip. To utilize it just simply push it on the bottom of your bottle and let it fill. Stop just short of overflowing and pull out the wand. This will produce the ideal fill level. The beer needs to be ¾ of an inch from the top. Position a sanitized cap on top of the bottle and use the capper to seal the cap. Many brewers choose to set caps onto the full bottles and wait to cap a number of them at that time. Do whichever is easier for you or get someone to assist in capping the bottles.

When you are done capping, look at every single bottle to ensure the cap is properly sealed. When all of the bottles are filled they will need to be rinsed to get rid of any sticky beer on the outside. Be sure to also clean all of the bottle filling equipment. It is much easier to clean as soon as you are done with it. Furthermore cleaning the equipment immediately will prevent many possible sanitation troubles during future uses.

Now that you have all your beer in bottles it must have time to correctly condition. The bottles need to be kept upright someplace away from the light at a temperature between 65 -75 F. This conditioning method will take a minimum of 10 days. If at all possible your bottles should be permitted to condition for 3-4 weeks.

Naturally you will definitely be very excited to test your beer so after waiting 10 days cool a bottle or two. When you open a bottle there will be the typical "hiss" if it is carbonated. Bottle conditioned beer is better enjoyed in a glass. Slowly pour it into a glass being careful to keep the sediment inside of the bottle. Take your very first taste! How is it? If it is not very carbonated it needs to have more conditioning time. If your beer tastes good give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy your creation!

When you feel that the beer is properly conditioned it should be kept at cellar temp or in the refrigerator.